Published 10:00 pm, Thursday, October 4, 2007

Giuliani raised more than $11 million for the presidential race in the July-September quarter, $10.5 million of it available for the primaries. Romney raised $10 million and tapped his personal fortune to pump in an additional $8.5 million.

Fred Thompson, the former Tennessee senator and an actor, raised $9.3 million in the quarter. He joined the GOP campaign only last month but had been raising money throughout the three-month period.

Giuliani's income left him with $16 million cash on hand, aides said Thursday. Of that, about $12 million is available for the primaries. Romney had $9 million on hand. Thompson had $7 million in the bank. All of Romney's and Thompson's money is available for the primaries.

PATRIOTISM IS NOT A PIN: Democrat Barack Obama says he no longer wears an American flag lapel pin because it has become a substitute for "true patriotism" since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"My attitude is that I'm less concerned about what you're wearing on your lapel than what's in your heart," he said in Independence, Iowa.

NO PUNDITS OR POLLS:Democrat John Edwards urged a crowd at a Kentucky Civil War battlefield to ignore polls and fundraising numbers that show him lagging in third place in the party's presidential race.

Edwards said Thursday that events like the one where he spoke in Columbus showed untapped support for his platform of paying attention to rural America.

The former North Carolina senator blamed pundits for giving too much weight to campaign contribution totals inflated by lobbyists' money that he refuses to take.

CONGRESSMEN SUE DNC: Congressional Democrats from Florida sued their own party Thursday, hoping to restore the national convention delegates stripped from the state because it scheduled an early presidential primary.

The national party's rules committee voted to take away Florida's 210 delegates after the state party chose to go along with a Jan. 29 primary.

Democratic Party rules say states cannot hold their 2008 primary contests before Feb. 5, except for Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

BRUSH-OFF FOR ARCHBISHOP: Giuliani on Thursday brushed aside criticism from Roman Catholic Archbishop Raymond Burke, who said he would deny Holy Communion to Giuliani and any other candidate who supports abortion rights.

"I'm not going to debate the opinion of an archbishop of the Catholic Church or an official of the Protestant Church or a rabbi," Giuliani said. "That's an interpretation of religion. They're entitled to their interpretation of religion."

Giuliani, a Catholic, would not be permitted to receive Communion anyway under church law because he is remarried without having his second marriage annulled.